The Prescription Drug Cost Reduction Armament

Take this to the doctor’s office and the drug store or pharmacy next time you go out for prescriptions or refills—it may save you big bucks. The ultimate cost savings strategy of all, of course, is to not need prescription drugs at all…but in this day and age of chronic illnesses, some things cannot be helped.

Strategies:

1. Go generic.

2. Ask about substitutes, such as older but equally effective drugs.

3. Comparison shop, including warehouse store pharmacies in your search.

4. Enlist your doctor’s help in seeking out higher-dosage pills that can be split. Current medications on the “pill split program” include some blood pressure drugs, certain anti-depressants, some cholesterol-lowering drugs, and the antiviral Valtrex.

5. Find discount drug programs, and solicit free samples from your doctor.

6. Buy abroad when possible—it isn’t supposed to be legal, but offenders won’t be punished when purchasing for personal use in quantities of 90-day use or less. Federal prosecutors have better things to do with their time.

7. Avoid most of the diseases that require the more commonly used prescriptions by eating the rainbow—lots of fruits and veggies in bright colors of the rainbow. Consult a dietician or nutritionist to learn methods of corrective eating to control your disease with foods rather than drugs, if they exist.

There are several things in this list that you can do for yourself without having to rely on (and wait for) the government to step in, creating yet another blunder in unintended consequences. These things I’ve listed take little time, and range from modest savings to a complete elimination of drug costs.

If you don’t know much about your condition, and only have the doctor’s brief explanation of it, you might do yourself some good by looking up your disease or condition—on Google, or at a library. Chances are very good you don’t have all the information necessary to make an informed choice regarding treatment—in most cases, nothing more than a brochure and slip of paper written in “doctorese” to hand to the pharmacist. There are lots of things you should know about drugs, side effects, and interactions, as well as non-drug alternatives—you’ll never hear about those, unfortunately, unless you ask or seek out specific help regarding food as medicine.

My favorite phrase to use at the doctor’s office is this: “Doc, since I steer the shopping cart and work the stove for our family, is there something we can eat or avoid eating to assist in the management of this condition? If so, what is it?” I then follow up the office visit with a visit to Google for the entire lowdown on the disease, the drugs involved, and all the alternatives available to manage the condition. If necessary, I schedule a follow-up appointment to challenge the doctor with the information I’ve found—most times, he concedes to the alternatives, and instructs me to back off my meds and include more foods and/or supplementation as a first trial. If no improvement is seen within a given time frame, then he will add back the meds along with the new eating regimen. Sometimes, the food change will allow me to discontinue meds early—always a pleasant surprise for both my doctor and me.

In the case of antibiotics, the “food first” approach will not work. Food doesn’t kill off bacteria and germs that antibiotics will. Food can, however, prevent the return of such ailments. Certain supplements can help to a limited extent, such as wild oregano oil (found in health food stores and online).

Get diagnosed, get informed, and get going on drug cost savings!